🔒Effective boards, a linchpin of nonprofits

When Laura Miller joined the Portland Chamber Music Festival’s board last year, she wasn’t particularly knowledgeable about classical music.

But she wanted to contribute to the community and she knew her career skills could benefit the organization.

Two years ago, Miller, director of marketing at cPort Credit Union, took part in the Emerging Leaders Program offered by Portland-based Lift 360, a three-month program that prepares people ages 22 to 40 for Maine nonprofit board and committee roles. Eventually, she met Alice Kornhauser, the executive director of the Portland Chamber Music Festival, who helped facilitate Miller’s transition to the PCMF board.

“I was an environmental studies major and I’m in marketing now, so I was looking for ways to contribute toward some of my other interests, since I’m not working in the environmental field at the moment,” Miller says.

PCMF was interested in her experience in events planning and marketing, which would prove useful even though she didn’t have expertise in classical music. Miller has found the staff provides the board with plenty of information so that members are able to speak to the events regardless of their background. And she enjoys the perk of attending performances.

“Personal interest helps a lot and makes you a good advocate,” she says. Strong boards with committed members, such as Miller, are an essential element of a well-run nonprofit. But a well-run board is not always easy to accomplish. A 2014 report, “Leadership New England,” prepared by Boston-based Third Sector New England, found that only 56% of executive leaders said they were satisfied or very satisfied with their board’s performance. Conversely, 84% of board members said they are satisfied or very satisfied with their executive leaders.

Often, there’s a reluctance on both sides to discuss big issues, like fund raising, the report found: “Leaders struggle the most with what they say is their board’s ineffectiveness in this area and it is a key strain in the board-leader relationship. Boards, for their part, want to do more to support their organizations’ fundraising but are not quite sure how.”

Nonprofit boards are responsible for defining an organization’s mission, vision and values, providing overall leadership and strategic direction, maintaining ethical and legal integrity, setting policy and ensuring the organization has adequate resources to carry out its mission, and recruiting effective executive talent.

Yet many boards don’t understand their obligations, says Kathryn Hunt, a principal and senior consultant at Bangor-based Starboard Leadership Consulting.

“An underperforming board manifests in a number of ways,” Hunt says. “Members might not understand what their role is and overstep their bounds, micromanaging operations in ways that are neither productive or appropriate. Or, members may be disengaged. Then we see high levels of absenteeism, members showing up for meetings unprepared — they haven’t read the material they were sent beforehand or taken time to educate themselves on the issues affecting the organization. The board may have fallen into the habit of simply rubberstamping everything that comes before them.”

An effective board, she said, meets its obligations, with each member doing meaningful work that contributes to the health and viability of the organization.

“Board meetings are well-run, with agendas that include time for prudent oversight of finances, programs and so on and also time for substantive, strategic discussions on topics such as, ‘Where do we want to be in the future? How should we respond to this issue? How should we position ourselves given this trend?’ Great boards are not only characterized by higher-level discussions; they also get their work done. When a charge is given to a particular committee, the committee carries out its work in timely fashion and brings back a recommendation for the full board to act on, as opposed to, ‘Well, we haven’t gotten to that.’ In other words, great boards are characterized by high expectations, rigor and engaging work.”

Meg Greene, an attorney at Brann & Isaacson, has served on various boards. “I’ve been on some boards where I’m perpetually wondering what my role really is, because the staff never tees up the decision points for the board’s input and guidance,” she says. “When I’m on a really strong board, I’m never wondering what I’m supposed to be doing as a director. The decision points are teed up, and the directors are given sufficient information to make decisions.”

Targeted recruitment, well-articulated expectations, mentorship, and accountability are key to ensuring that board members will have desired impacts as connectors, fundraisers and “friend-raisers,” while they also serve as advocates and provide checks and balances to ensure mission-alignment, says Maine Association of Nonprofits Executive Director Scott Schnapp.

Effective boards have members who are “engaged and involved,” he says. “They are truly there because of the mission and not for other reasons. They’ve checked their egos and their business relationships at the door, in order to bring their skills and expertise to further the mission. That’s the gold standard.”

Schnapp identifies strategies for attracting quality board members: “Start with your mission and strategic goals, so you know what skills/experience are needed. Look internally for the skills you need, as people that are already involved in some manner with the organization are obviously drawn to their mission. Use existing networks, who knows whom, but also think about how to bring voices to the table that aren’t always asked — younger leaders, diverse backgrounds.”

Recruitment, he says, should be an ongoing process, rather than an item on a to-do list. “Develop relationships all the time so that you’re seeding for the future,” he says. “Use committees as a way to provide a lower-commitment way to get involved and learn more about the nonprofit. Develop and demonstrate strong governance systems, since prospects will be reassured by this.”

People sign on as board members because of personal connection to the mission, or because they’re moved by the mission.

With only 14% of nonprofit board members under the age of 40, the need to bring the next generation of leaders to the table has become a major theme.

“Nonprofit boards recognize that they must adapt,” says Schnapp. “Preserving historical knowledge must be balanced with openness to new, and sometimes challenging, ideas. Boards need to proactively recruit, mentor and empower younger members who share a passion for their mission.”